Man tosses winning lottery ticket, finds it five months later
Robert Graham lucked out two times.
First, the Snellville man bought a Fantasy 5 lottery ticket that turned out to be worth $67,553.
Second, he didn't throw it away.
Graham, 59, tossed the ticket into a brown bag after he bought it. He had no idea that he'd won the Sept. 24 drawing, the Georgia Lottery Corp. said Tuesday.
Winners have 180 days -- about six months -- to claim prizes. Last week, five months after the drawing, Graham went into the bag where he throws his tickets and checked them against the Georgia Lottery's website.
When he realized he'd matched all five numbers, he took a deep breath.
"I got lucky," he told lottery officials. "I just couldn't believe it."
The grandfather of three said he'll pay his bills and invest the rest, though he added that he might "splurge" a little.
About the Author
Ty Tagami is a staff writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Since joining the newspaper in 2002, he has written about everything from hurricanes to homelessness. He has deep experience covering local government and education, and can often be found under the Gold Dome when lawmakers meet or in a school somewhere in the state.
